The Walt Disney Studios has announced plans to release at least 15 of its films for in-home viewing on Blu-ray 3D in 2011.

Among the list of films to debut on 3D include animated classics THE LION KING (check out the cover art) and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, recent theatrical releases including TRON: LEGACY and TANGLED, plus many others to be announced that will release day-and-date and packaged with a non-3D Blu-ray Disc.

Also slated for release in 2011 are BOLT, MEET THE ROBINSONS, TIM BURTONâ€™S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, G-FORCE and CHICKEN LITTLE. These titles will join The Walt Disney Studiosâ€™ recent 2010 Blu-ray 3D releases ALICE IN WONDERLAND, DISNEYâ€™S A CHRISTMAS CAROL and STEP UP 3.

In addition to the films being in 3D, each disc will include thematically linked 3D menus, 3D previews of coming-attractions trailers and an introduction to Disney Blu-ray 3D featuring Timon and Pumbaa from THE LION KING.

Check out this high-definition clip of Beauty and the Beast and you’ll notice, even with YouTube’s compressed 720p HD video, that the picture has improved greatly with better colors and contrast.
Beauty and the Beast will be available on Blu-ray Disc October 5, 2010.

Walt Disney Studios is hard at work on re-rendering their classic “Beauty and the Beast” for a Disney Digital 3D theatrical release in 2010. The announcement was made at 3DX: 3D Film and Entertainment Technology Festival by Mark Zoradi, president, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group.

The creation of a 3D version of will be handled entirely in-house at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and will utilize proprietary software, along with the latest techniques and advances in 3D technology. Overseeing the project will be the film’s original team of filmmakers — producer Don Hahn, and directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale. The re-rendering is expected to take about nine months to complete, and will require a frame-by-frame analysis of the film’s original computer files in order to create new images for each eye.

The NY Times reports that Disney plans on releasing five more classic animated movies on Blu-ray within two years. The five movies bound for high-definition glory are: Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 and last but no least, Beauty and the Beast. Disney will kick off it’s Platinum Blu-ray releases with Sleeping Beauty on October 7th.

All of the releases will take full advantage of Blu-ray technology including BD Live, which allows for internet interactivity. Bob Chapek, president of Disney’s home entertainment division, is fully behind Blu-ray and BD Live, commenting “BD Live is not a niche product, We see mass adoption of the technology.”